Film Independent at LACMA Starts With World Premiere of Rum Diary, Reitman Breakfast Club Reading

After much anticipation, the weekly Film Independent Film Series at LACMA, kicking off October 13 and sponsored by the New York Times, will include the world premiere of Johnny Depp-starrer The Rum Diary (pictured) plus screenings of Martha, Marcy May Marlene, Modern Times and Accattone. Guest artist Jason Reitman will present a reading of the original The Breakfast Club script with select cast members, with more screenplays intended for similar treatment. Reitman says: “One of my favorite moments as a filmmaker is the first table read of my screenplay. It usually takes a few pages for the actors to find their footing, but soon enough they click into gear, and by the end it feels like watching a movie. This should be a fun way to bring people into what has always been a closed process."

This new partnership aims to "present classic and contemporary narrative and documentary films, artists and their influences, emerging auteurs, international showcases, special guest-curated programs, in addition to conversations with artists, curators and special guests." Curator Mitchell says "community--new and old" is the key to LACMA's Bing Theater, and central to that is bringing "the kind of excitement to the film series that the medium gives me in all its permutations."

Film Independent at LACMA will launch with programming that represents the broad range of films and cinematic events that define the new series, with the regular weekly schedule beginning on October 27. All events will start at 7:30 pm.

• October 13 – World Premiere of The Rum Diary – Director Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I) returns to the screen with an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s novel, a gonzo-eye’s view of a world first charted by Graham Greene. Writer Paul Kemp hits the streets of Puerto Rico only to find true emotional instability at the newspaper where he works. The Rum Diary is a passion project produced by its star, Johnny Depp, and co-stars Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart and Richard Jenkins. Director Bruce Robinson and actors Johnny Depp, Amber Heard and Aaron Eckhart will be in attendance. FilmDistrict will open the film nationwide on October 28, 2011.

• October 16 at 8:30pm – Martha Marcy May Marlene – Writer-director Sean Durkin’s arresting first feature film was the winner of the Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows a struggle to reclaim the soul of a young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) by her sister (Sarah Paulson) and the charming and coercive cult leader (John Hawkes) that seduced her away. This will be a special members-only screening for Film Independent, LACMA Film Club and New York Times Film Club members. Writer-director Sean Durkin and actress Elizabeth Olsen will be in attendance.

• October 18 – Modern Times (1936) – Is there a better time to show a restored print of Charlie Chaplin’s hilarious and potent commentary on the swing of labor conditions? Set during the Great Depression, Chaplin’s Little Tramp battles for his survival in an ingeniously conceived series of tableaux that display the comedian’s ability to make audiences laugh and sigh. Modern Times will be preceded by the 1922 short Pay Day, one of the most ferocious tests of his physical wit and aplomb. Talent to be announced.

• October 20 – Live Read of The Breakfast Club, directed by Jason Reitman – In the debut of this new series, creator Jason Reitman has selected John Hughes’ classic The Breakfast Club (1985). With a carefully cast selection of actors reading the script together for the first time, it’s a rare chance to see these artists shape start-to-finish performances on the fly, while responding to well-known (and loved) material. Surprise cast!

• October 27 – Accattone (1961) – Director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film is an absorbing view from the gutter that forever changed the definition of Italian Neorealism. The film stays on the heels of the hustler Accattone as he preys on one young woman after another. Franco Citti, one of the many non-professional actors discovered by Pasolini, hauntingly embodies the lead role, abetting Pasolini’s creation of a somber and unforgettable tone poem—which was later fittingly saluted by Morrissey in his song “You Have Killed Me.” Talent to be announced.

Thompson on Hollywood

Born and raised in Manhattan, Anne Thompson grew up going to the Thalia and The New Yorker and wound up at grad Cinema Studies at NYU. She worked at United Artists and Film Comment before heading west as that magazine's west coast editor. She wrote for the LA Weekly, Sight and Sound, Empire, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly before serving as West Coast Editor of Premiere. She wrote for The Washington Post, The London Observer, Wired, More, and Vanity Fair, and did staff stints at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. She eventually took her blog Thompson on Hollywood to Indiewire. She taught film criticism at USC Critical Studies, and continues to host the fall semester of “Sneak Previews” for UCLA Extension.